WITH Christmas on the horizon, some of us have already spent a fortune on needless presents.

There’s the Switch games kids get bored with after a day, socks for an uncle you never see, and lingerie your wife always takes back (what’s wrong with Lovehoney undies?).

Money is tight in December, so the Chook went searching for a bonzer budget takeaway.

If you are looking for good value, suburbs like Willagee, Hilton and Hamilton Hill tend to be cheaper and there’s hidden gems to be found.

I’d heard good things about Thien Kim in Hammy Hill, so I fired up the Herald jalopy and spluttered along South Street to investigate.

Part of a small row of shops on Simms Road, the eatery is clean, modern and inviting with wooden floorboards, a gorgeous bamboo mural on the wall, and a soothing green colour scheme.

There’s the obligatory drinks fridge beside the counter and some fabulous old-school light box menus on the wall.

You could sit in, but my wife and kids were deep in the bowels of a consumer nightmare (Garden City pre-Xmas), so we opted for takeaway.

The menu had a decent range of Vietnamese and South-East Asian dishes including beef noodle soup, papaya salad, Vietnamese chicken salad (thinly cut cabbage with chicken), Vietnamese baguettes and pancakes, and rice vermicelli salad.

I opted for the intriguingly-named Shaking Beef ($22.90) which I had never tried before.

I was pleasantly surprised – the large chunks of tender sautéed beef were delicious and coated in a moreish sweet-and-salty sauce with traces of garlic and black pepper.

It was accompanied by a vibrant mix of cucumber, tomatoes, red onion and lettuce, which refreshed the palate in-between mouthfuls of that rich, dark sauce.

Completing the tasty picture was a generous mound of fried rice.

At $22, I was expecting the beef to be poor quality, but it was top notch and there was lots of it.

If you are wondering about the name, the dish is not a tribute to Shakin’ Stevens, but is called “Shaking Beef” because the chef constantly shakes the pan when cooking it.

It was excellent and I would definitely order it again.

Across the table, my wife “Special K” was tucking into her Lemongrass Beef ($22.10).

“It’s a lovely fresh dish with a nice citrus bust from the lemongrass,” she noted.

“The beef is really good quality and it’s a big serve.

“It’s got quite a spicy kick though, and I’m reaching for the milk a lot.”

Bringing up the rear, my two young kids were tucking into the Big Mac of Asian cuisine – the ubiquitous Me Boring, I mean Mie Goreng ($20.80).

Except this was a superior take with lovely light noodles, a subtle sauce, and a nice scattering of crushed peanuts.

You could get it with a wide range of protein – beef, BBQ pork, seafood, prawn and roast duck – but my kids opted for the chicken.

It was good quality chook and nice and tender.

I was really impressed by Thien Kim, and it was far better than other, more expensive takeaways, I’ve had.

So if Cliff Richard’s Mistletoe and Wine is already driving you nuts, this Vietnamese eatery is a good yuletide circuit-breaker.

Bah humbug!

Thien Kim
1/8 Simms Road, Hamilton Hill
facebook.com/Thienkimvietnamese
6361 1415

by STEPHEN POLLOCK